


A Pirate's Tail

by SlytherinPirate



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/F, occasionally morally ambiguous girl, pirate/mermaid AU because why not, reyna is a scaly fun fact, soft girls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-30
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-02-23 19:35:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13197099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SlytherinPirate/pseuds/SlytherinPirate
Summary: One day, Captain Reyna Ramirez-Arellano’s crew members catch a new kind of fish.





	A Pirate's Tail

**Author's Note:**

> i know this is cliche but i just love pirates and mermaids and also my cute girls
> 
> My submission to the pjosecretsanta2k17 for surpassing-morning.tumblr.com :)

As she stood facing her death, Reyna remembered the first time she had laid eyes on her.

Her crew had hauled their catch up to their ship and dumped it, squirming and struggling, onto the deck. 

“I never seen anythin’ like it before, Captain,” a crew member said as Reyna walked cautiously towards the creature in the net. She instinctively reached for the handle of her cutlass when the creature turned sharply to look her in the eyes. Instantly, Reyna was mesmerized. She could see the creature more clearly now that it had stopped struggling so much, and she could make out the curly blonde hair wildly cascading down its body, its silver tail flapping against the deck, the scales reaching all the way up to its chest. Reyna could even make out the fierce grey eyes, stormy as the rough sea.

“Can you speak?” Reyna asked, one hand still on the handle of her cutlass.

“No,” the creature replied, causing Reyna to narrow her eyes in confusion. She was even more confused when the creature then rolled its eyes. 

“Should we kill it, Captain?” another crew member asked.

“I’m not an ‘it,’” the creature spat. “I’m a ‘she.’” 

“Take her to the brig,” Reyna barked orders at her crew and they immediately got to work attempting to carry the creature down to the brig.  _ I will speak to her there, _ Reyna decided.  _ I need to know more about this creature, whatever she is. _

 

“Have you got a name?” Reyna sat on a stool facing the bars of the brig where the creature was now sitting on the ground, back against the wall. She could see the creature’s scales more clearly now, glinting against the faint light streaming in from a small window. The creature said nothing. Her arms were crossed and she was looking pointedly away from Reyna, frowning. After about a minute of this, Reyna sighed and started to get up. “Alright, if that’s how it’s going to be-”

“Wait,” the creature said. “What… What are you going to do with me?”

“Well that depends,” Reyna replied, sitting back down. “I could sell you. I’m sure that you… whatever you are, will fetch a high price at any of the ports we sail to.” The creature gritted her teeth, giving Reyna a hard glare. “But I honestly wouldn’t mind keeping you onboard. I’ve always been passionate about science and learning, and I would love to learn more about you and your species. Which would you prefer?” The creature continued to glare at Reyna for a moment before letting out a frustrated but resigned sigh.

“My name is Annabeth,” she said finally. Reyna smiled.

 

Annabeth was moved into the captain’s quarters with Reyna so she could conduct her work and keep an eye on her subject at all times. A large tub of water was brought in for Annabeth to reside in, and Reyna made sure that she was kept well-fed and happy. Well, as happy as she could be given the circumstances. Reyna would sometimes look up from her book or maps to see Annabeth attacking her hair with a comb she had given her. Reyna would chuckle and think about how she would like to try and brush out Annabeth’s hair for her one of these days.

Sometimes Annabeth would catch Reyna asleep at her desk, having been so tired from running the ship and going over maps and trade documents that she just fell asleep right then and there. Annabeth would view her from her tub across the room, watching the way her chest rose and fell with each breath, the way strands of her braided hair would fall into her face. She had always been wary of humans, but seeing one in such a vulnerable state was almost… cute.

 

Living in such close proximity to someone will either bring people closer or push them drastically apart. In the case of Captain Reyna Ramirez-Arellano and mermaid Annabeth Chase, it brought them closer.

Reyna got to fulfill her wish of brushing out Annabeth’s hair one night when Annabeth was struggling with it so much that she nearly broke the comb. Reyna sighed, standing up.

“Let me help.” Annabeth narrowed her eyes in suspicion as Reyna crossed the room to sit down on a chair next to her. She reached into a drawer and took out her own brush, picking the dark hair out of it before starting to attempt to untangle Annabeth’s curly mess. “This is ridiculous, how did your hair get like this?”

“I live in the ocean,” Annabeth reminded her. Reyna chuckled.

“Of course.” They sat in silence while Reyna brushed Annabeth’s hair, with Annabeth interjecting with the occasional “ow!” Eventually, Reyna set the brush aside and ran her fingers through Annabeth’s hair. “There, all done,” she said, retracting her hand. 

“Do that again,” said Annabeth, quietly.

“Do what?” Reyna asked. Annabeth turned around and reached for Reyna’s hand, her wet, webbed fingers cool against Reyna’s skin. She lifted Reyna’s hand up to her hair again and ran it through the long blonde locks, like Reyna had done just previously. “Oh,” Reyna said, her face slightly flushed. Annabeth gave a small smile and let Reyna’s hand go, turning around once more. Reyna continued to play with Annabeth’s hair, smiling to herself.

 

Looking back on the whole thing, Reyna reflected that it really didn’t take her very long to fall in love. She fell in love with Annabeth’s hair, her eyes, her voice, the way she swished her tail back and forth and the way she spoke about her home and her life.

“Sure, the palace was beautiful, but the most enchanting part of the sea, at least for me, was definitely the freedom of the vast ocean. I would swim for miles and miles, seaweed tangling in my hair, skimming my fingers on the seafloor. Sometimes I would go up to the surface and feel sunlight on my skin. But then one day I just… went a bit too far.”

“You really miss it, huh.” Reyna was sitting next to Annabeth’s tub again, brushing her hair. Annabeth gave a wistful smile.

“Yes… I do miss it.” She rounded on Reyna suddenly. “How long are you going to keep me here?” she asked, angrily. Reyna sat back, feeling a bit shocked, though she knew somewhere in her head that she had no reason to be. She had done plenty of research on Annabeth, had examined her scales, her hands, had made her explain her life, her culture, and now… “Prisoner” was a harsh word, but accurate all the same. And for what? For a love she could never have? Reyna put down the hairbrush, resigned. She stood up and reached into the tub to pick Annabeth up.

“What on Earth are you doing?” Annabeth yelled, trying to squirm out of Reyna’s grasp.

“I’m setting you free,” Reyna said, her voice taking on a solemn tone. Annabeth stopped struggling.

“What?” Reyna managed to pick her up bridal-style and carry her to gally where she set her down before getting in herself and lowering the boat down to the water. Annabeth was silent the whole time, staring at Reyna. Was it disbelief on her face? Fear? Something… else? It was hard to tell. When they reached the water, Reyna sat back for a bit and looked at Annabeth. They just looked at each other for a few minutes before Reyna finally broke the silence.

“Do you need me to help you back into the water?” she asked. Annabeth blinked, as if coming out of a trance.

“Oh, no… I can do it.” She hauled herself over the side of the boat and slid back into the water. She didn’t disappear right away, however. She looked back at Reyna, her countenance still showing the same mysterious emotion from earlier, of which the meaning continued to evade Reyna. “Thank you,” Annabeth said, softly. Reyna nodded, her heart heavy. This was the right thing to do. She couldn’t continue to be so selfish any longer. Reyna began to pull the gally back up again when Annabeth stopped her.

“Wait!” Annabeth yelled. Reyna paused and look back down at her, noticing how her now well-brushed blonde hair splayed out, floating on the water.

“What is it?” Reyna asked.

“I…” Annabeth looked her in the eyes for a few seconds before blinking and looking away. “Good bye, Reyna.” In the blink of an eye, she disappeared into the murky water.

 

“‘Tis all yer fault, Cap’n!”

“ _ My  _ fault? You were the one who accidentally tossed the compass overboard, ye salty, pox-faced kraken!” Reyna spat at Bruno, her first mate. Or I suppose now her  _ former _ first mate. Another one of her crew members had her restrained, her hands already tied behind her back.

“It’s nothin’ personal, Cap’n. Ya bring bad luck to this here ship and it’s got to end.”

“What do you mean, ‘I bring bad luck,’ I--” Reyna narrowed her eyes. “Oh no, yer not gonna shout that swine at me about bad luck just because I’m a woman, are you? You better not, Bruno!” She bared her teeth, struggling hard against her restraints.

“Again, Cap’n. It’s nothin’ personal. Like I said. Now..” Bruno looked up at the man restraining Reyna. “I think it’s time… for our dear Captain to walk the plank.”

“No… No!” Reyna struggled even more but the man holding her was much bigger than she was and he managed to haul her over to the plank. She was shoved at swordpoint to the edge. She yelped as she tottered on the plank, her heart pounding as she nearly fell into the depths below. She supposed she should have seen something like this coming. They had indeed hit a swarm of bad luck recently, what with storms and the compass falling overboard and the fact that they got lost in the middle of the ocean. Reyna had noticed several of her crew members side-eyeing her, but she didn’t think it would end up like this.

“Any last words?” someone asked. She didn’t know who it was. She didn’t care. She made sure to look every single member of her once crew in the eyes before she spoke.

“I’ll see you all in Davy Jones’ locker.” She closed her eyes and saw Annabeth. Saw the way she struggled against the net when the crew had first brought her onboard. Saw her messy, golden hair. Saw her stormy grey eyes. Reyna squeezed her eyes shut as she held back tears, clenched her tied-together fists behind her, and fell backwards into the ocean.

 

Reyna opened her eyes and saw green. A dark, murky green that surrounded her on every side.  _ So this is death, _ she thought. Suddenly something tugged on her hand. She looked around, her hair floating strangely around her, until she saw the culprit.

“Annabeth?” Reyna stared at her in disbelief. Annabeth smiled, but her smile was somewhat pained. “Annabeth,” Reyna repeated. “No… are you dead too?” Annabeth shook her head.

“Reyna, look.” She held up Reyna’s hand that she was still holding. Reyna took it out of Annabeth’s grasp in shock to examine it. Her fingers were webbed. The same could be found on her other hand. She vaguely wondered if her toes were now webbed as well but when she looked down she discovered that she had no toes. In their place was a sleek black tail, just like Annabeth’s except instead of shining silver, hers was obsidian. 

“What-”

“I’ve been following your ship for a few days,” Annabeth explained. “I went back home but… I don’t know…” Reyna tore her eyes away from her tail to look at Annabeth, who looked… bashful? “It didn’t feel right. I felt like something was wrong. Missing. Whatever. So I… I came back. And you fell. And I saved you.”

“You did this?” Reyna gestured to her own body.

“We don’t often breathe life into drowning humans, but… I made an exception.” Reyna smiled and looked around. It felt strange to be so far beneath the ocean waves and yet feel perfectly fine. 

“So, are you going to bring me back home with you or something?” She asked, still looking at the expanse above their heads. She could just make out a bit of sunlight in the distance.

“I guess so,” Annabeth said. “It’s funny. I always have a plan.  _ Always _ . But this time, I just… It was impulse. No, instinct. Yes, instinct. And I’m glad I did it. But yes, I guess I should take you back to where I live.” Reyna smiled at Annabeth and offered her a webbed hand.

“Then… shall we?” Annabeth took Reyna’s hand.

“Yes,” she replied, moving closer to Reyna. Reyna’s heart beat faster as Annabeth leaned in close to whisper in her ear. “But first I think we have some bastard scum to drown.”


End file.
